Defending badminton champions Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia decided on Friday to withdraw from the BWF World Tour Finals, bidding farewell to the title after Marcus suffered a sprained neck muscle
efending badminton champions Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia decided on Friday to withdraw from the BWF World Tour Finals, bidding farewell to the title after Marcus suffered a sprained neck muscle.
“Yes, we’ve decided to stop playing [in the finals] because the pain in the back of my neck is too bothersome, and it is kind of spreading to my eyes. My neck feels really tense right now.
“I don’t want to push it too hard. I’m afraid it will get worst,” Marcus told the Indonesian Badminton Association’s (PBSI) official website, badmintonindonesia.org, on Friday.
According to the tournament schedule, the Indonesian pair, affectionately called the “Minions” by their fans, was supposed to play the last group match against China’s Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong at Tianhe Gymnasium in Guangzhou, China, on Friday evening.
The pair’s assistant coach Aryono Miranat said Marcus had sprained his neck while playing against Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the tournament’s opener on Wednesday.
“It was a tough match. Maybe when he tried to return shots, he pulled the muscle […]. Even last night [Thursday] when they faced Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen [of China], they were not at the top of their game,” said Aryono.
“Marcus still feels the pain, it has even somehow spread to his eyes now. We’ve given him treatment for the pain twice, but it is not enough.
“He decided to call it off because he was afraid it would’ve gotten worse. Initially, Kevin still wanted to play, but they’ve talked through it and mutually agreed to withdraw,” he said, adding that Marcus had reported his medical condition to the referee.
Marcus and Kevin won Wednesday’s match after three games. However, because of Marcus’ neck pain, the Indonesians lost in a straight games match on Thursday.
With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in sight, the decision to not push too hard in the BWF Finals was a strategic one. The pair needs to prepare to collect as many points as possible in the busy 2019 season in order to qualify for the Olympics.
Veteran Indonesian pair Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan also bowed out early, failing to make the semifinals after losing 13-21, 21-18, 21-14 to Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-lin of Taiwan in Friday’s last group match.
Out of three matches, Ahsan and Hendra only won against Liao Min Chun and Su Ching Heng of Taiwan on Thursday.
The bad news for Indonesia did not end, however, with Indonesian competitors in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles also exiting early from the season-closing tournament after performing poorly in Friday’s matches.
Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu lost 21-18, 21-7 to China’s Du Yue and Li Yinhui in the women’s doubles, finishing the tournament with a 0-3 losing record.
Meanwhile, Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja lost 21-16, 21-13 to China’s Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping in the mixed doubles. Hafiz and Gloria only won one of their three group matches.
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